


Buck Plays Pokemon

by the_genderman



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Bucky Barnes Recovering, Canon? What Canon?, Captain America Reverse Big Bang 2018, Domestic Fluff, Fluff, Gen, Pokemon Black & White, The Avengers Are Good Bros, characters playing pokemon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-30
Updated: 2018-05-30
Packaged: 2019-05-16 05:58:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 10,355
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14805668
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_genderman/pseuds/the_genderman
Summary: The one in which Bucky plays Pokémon White, bugs his friends about it, and draws parallels to his own life.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [[Art] BuckPlaysPokemon](https://archiveofourown.org/works/14801220) by [TheRothwoman](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheRothwoman/pseuds/TheRothwoman). 



> Beta-read by TheRothwoman who also did the art this fic was written for. (https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheRothwoman and I'd make that a useable link except I have forgotten how and the last time I tried it kept deleting istelf, so please copy and paste or follow the art link wherever it appears.)
> 
> Written for the 2018 Captain America Reverse Big Bang. And I have to say, while the art was way near the end of the slideshow of arts, as _soon_ as I saw it I knew that was what I was going to write (claims process willing). Wow, two special interests in one art? Yes let's. MCU and Pokémon, together in one fic.

“Hey, thanks again for agreeing to help me move my old couch,” Sam said as he pulled out the cushions to do one last check for loose change. “It’s past due time that it got replaced.”

“Yeah, what was the tip off?” Bucky asked, laughing a little. “Was it the fact that if you sat in the middle you practically sunk into the floor? Or the mystery stain on the right armrest?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Sam laughed, brushing off the jab. “Like you’d’ve thrown it out any sooner.”

“True,” Bucky nodded. “Ready to get this thing moved out yet? And are we going down the stairs or can I just open the window and chuck it out?”

“As entertaining as the second one would be, I don’t think anyone would appreciate having to dodge falling furniture,” Sam said. “Let’s just be boring and take the stairs.”

“Oh, alright,” Bucky grinned as he picked up the couch. “Lead the way.”

\---------------

“Quite the collection of dust bunnies you’ve got under here,” Bucky commented when he and Sam returned to Sam’s living room. He prodded some of the larger specimens with his foot. “Along with crumbs, popcorn, jelly beans—oh, this looks promising.”

“What looks promising?” Sam asked, leaning around Bucky and trying to see what he was looking at.

“Dunno yet, I got see what it is. There’s a lot of dust under here.”

“It’s not easy keeping the under-couch area clean. Things go under there and they don’t come back. I’ll get the vacuum while you investigate.”

Bucky knelt down to pick up the small, square object. It was black, about the size of a half dollar, and one edge of it almost looked like a computer chip. He gently blew the dust off and turned it over in his fingers. NintendoDS, Pokémon White Version. Huh. He was familiar enough with Mario Kart and Animal Crossing on the Wii, but had never gotten into the Pokémon games. He was vaguely aware of Steve having located an original GameBoy and a copy of Pokémon Red and having played that, but he had mostly ignored Steve’s insistence that he’d like the game.

“Hey, Sam?” Bucky called.

“Yeah?” Sam answered, returning with his vacuum. “What is it?”

“You lose a Pokémon game recently?” Bucky asked, standing up and crossing to Sam. He held the cartridge out.

“Hey, wow, so that’s where it went,” Sam said, taking the cartridge from Bucky. “No, not recently. Probably oh, maybe six, seven years ago? I’d given up on ever finding it again, so I just moved on.”

“Well, if you want to pick back up again where you left off, here’s your opportunity.”

“Thanks, but nah. I tried Pokémon X when it came out, but by that time, I guess I’d kind of lost interest in it; I gave X and my 3DS to my nephew. He’s getting a lot more out of it than I would have. Pokémon’s a fun enough game, but it’s not really my thing anymore. If you want it, you can keep it. Do you have a DS or 3DS?”

“I’ve got a Wii,” Bucky replied, “but I’m sure I can pick one up somewhere. I _have_ been looking for some new games to play, now that no one will play me in Mario Kart anymore. It’s not _my_ fault Steve’s a mediocre driver and doesn’t like to lose.”

“Steve? Doesn’t like to lose? Wow, what a surprise,” Sam laughed, the sarcasm almost palpable. “Anyway, if you’ve never played Pokémon before and you actually do want to start a game, I can give you a few pointers to get you started. Just let me know.”

“Will do,” Bucky said, pocketing the game and stepping out of the way so Sam could begin vacuuming up the dust bunnies.

\-----------------------

Two weeks later, Sam got a text from Bucky.

 **Bucky** : Ok, tell me everything I need to know about Pokemon

**Bucky** : I asked google, but there is a *lot* of stuff, and the first page of results is mostly trying to sell me the game that I already have, a ROM of questionable legality, and the Wikipedia article

**Sam** : Yeah, there is a lot out there. I can give you the basics, get you started

**Bucky** : Come over? I have beer and can order a pizza

**Sam** : Alright, gimme a minute to get ready. I’ll be right over

**Bucky** : Cool thanks

\------------------

Sam arrived as Bucky was paying the pizza delivery guy.

“Oh, hey, perfect timing,” Bucky said, waving Sam in. “You like pepperoni, right?”

“I’ll eat almost anything on pizza except for pineapple,” Sam answered, taking the box from Bucky’s hands and extracting a slice. He set the box down on the coffee table in front of Bucky’s couch and sat down. “Alright, if you could grab me that beer you promised, I can get down to basics. Or at least what I can remember. It’s been a while since I last played.”

“Should I take notes?” Bucky asked, not sitting down yet.

“If you wanna,” Sam shrugged, taking a bite of his pizza.

Bucky disappeared into the kitchen and Sam tried not to look like he just burned the roof of his mouth on semi-molten cheese.

Bucky reappeared with plates, napkins, a couple bottles of Guinness, a pen, and a steno pad. He set his things onto the coffee table and flopped down on the couch next to Sam. He opened the steno pad to a blank page, clicked the pen open, and turned expectantly to Sam. “Ok, where do we start?” he asked.

“I’m going to start by reminding you that your choice of beers is questionable,” Sam said. Bucky just glared at him. “I’ll drink it, don’t worry, but there _are_ better beers.”

“Blasphemy,” Bucky muttered.

Sam ignored that addition and started explaining. “Pokémon is a turn-based RPG. You play as a kid who travels around their region—like a state. Black and White are set in Unova, which is a fictionalized sort-of-New York—collecting Pokémon, training them, battling other Pokémon trainers, earning badges from the eight gym leaders—bosses, sort of—and working to defeat their region’s team of bad guys. There was an optional online part, but since the game’s so old, Nintendo shut that down a few years ago. Back to the main gameplay, there’s seventeen types, and each has strengths and weaknesses against others, so there’s no one ‘best’ type. Obviously, I’m partial to Flying types, but that’s me.”

“Seventeen?” Bucky interrupted. “And I have to memorize how all of them interact?”

“You can search ‘Pokémon type chart’ in the images section of Google—just look up a Gen 5 chart—but a lot of them are fairly straightforward. Like rock-paper-scissors. You choose from three starters; Grass, Water, and Fire types. Water beats Fire, Fire beats Grass, you get the idea. Obviously there are other strengths and weaknesses at work, but I’ll let you look into that on your own.”

Bucky nodded and made little ‘mm-hmm’ noises as he took notes.

“Each Pokémon can know up to four different moves at a time, and each move also has a type associated with it. Like Tackle is Normal, Ember is Fire, Bite is Dark, stuff like that. You’ll get a better hang of it once you start playing, don’t worry,” Sam said, seeing the look on Bucky’s face. “It’s a kids’ game. I mean, adults can enjoy it too, but I’m just saying it’s not going to be so complicated your average ten-year-old can’t handle it. You’ll be fine.”

“So, should I do my research first, or could I just jump in?” Bucky asked, grabbing another slice of pizza and trying not to get grease on his steno pad.

“It’s up to you,” Sam said. “On one hand, knowing what you’re getting into can be nice, but on the other hand, it can be fun in itself going into a new game and not knowing what’s around each corner. Either way, it would definitely be useful to look at the type chart. Even if you don’t know exactly what type each Pokémon is, you can at least make educated guesses.”

“So I’m getting a feeling that I’m going to have to think over this for a bit before starting,” Bucky said after a moment’s silence.

“And I came all the way over there for ‘I’m gonna need time to think’?” Sam deadpanned.

“We live in the same building, and I bought you pizza and beer,” Bucky teased back, giving Sam’s shoulder a light shove. “And I will hear nothing bad against the Guinness.”

“It doesn’t live up to the hype,” Sam said, making purposeful eye contact with Bucky. 

Bucky stuck his fingers in his ears and blew Sam a raspberry.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Art happens in this chapter. (Clarification: See link in notes at beginning of fic.)

“Hey Buck, whatcha got there?” Steve asked, leaning over Bucky’s shoulder to get a look at the 3DS’s screens. “When did you get a 3DS?”

“Three weeks ago,” Bucky answered. 

“What are you playing instead of mingling with everyone?” Steve asked, leaning a little closer.

“Pokémon,” Bucky said, giving Steve a ‘you’re in my bubble’ look. Bucky knew Steve had trouble adjusting to him needing more personal space since coming back, but he’d never learn if Bucky didn’t remind him occasionally.

“Oh, cool,” Steve replied, leaning back out of Bucky’s bubble. “Which game? Did you finally decide to get Blue like I suggested? I heard Red and Blue were available for download on the 3DS, but I had to play it in the original form, you know me. How far along are you?”

“It’s Pokémon White,” Bucky answered. “I found it under Sam’s couch when I helped him move it, and he gave it to me because he said he’d probably never play it again. Also, I haven’t started it. I tried to mingle for a while, but there was too much happening, so I got a drink, took a jog back to my place, grabbed this, and came back so Tony couldn’t accuse me of skipping out on his birthday party. _Technically_ , I am still here.”

“Ooh, you still have to pick your starter then,” Steve said, perking up. “Do you have a preference yet?”

“Not really,” Bucky replied, tapping the Pokémon icon on the lower screen, beginning the game. “I was going to wait and see what they look like before picking.”

“That’s fair,” Steve said, still hovering over the arm of the couch. 

Bucky chose ‘New Game.’ The game told him “Warning! There’s already a saved game file. If you start an adventure now, you won’t be able to save it. Are you sure you want to start anyway?”

“Steve, what’s it doing?” Bucky asked, holding up his 3DS for Steve to get a better look.

“I dunno,” Steve shrugged. “I’ve never seen anything like that before. Red and Blue just let you save over your old game file any which way.”

“Go get Sam, something’s wrong with his game.”

Steve nodded and left the room to find Sam. Bucky sat and frowned at the 3DS.

\-----

“Alright, what did you do?” Sam asked, following Steve into the little side-room where Bucky was ‘hiding.’ He crossed over to the couch and leaned over the back to get a look at the screen. Steve moved back to his original hover.

“Game won’t start,” Bucky said, lifting the 3DS so Sam could see the offending message.

“Oh, yeah, sorry. I forgot it does that. That wasn’t a thing in the earlier generations. Lemme google how to delete the old save file,” Sam said, pulling out his phone.

Steve and Bucky watched Sam expectantly as he googled. Bucky jumped a little when he heard Natasha’s voice very close behind him. They all turned.

“I wondered where you all had gotten to,” Natasha said. “So, what’s drawn you away from Tony’s birthday buffet table? Don’t think I didn’t notice you clearing the mini quiches into a big freezer Ziploc, Steve.”

Steve blushed a little.

“Slip me a couple broccoli and cheddars and my lips are sealed,” Natasha said, holding out her plate. Steve pulled the Ziploc out from a well-hidden pocket in the back of his jacket and passed Natasha three mini quiches.

“What is wrong with you two?” Sam asked, half impressed, half weirded out.

“Can I have a quiche, too? They were all gone when I got up there,” Bucky asked, holding out his hand. Steve relented and gave him one.

“Yeah, they were all gone because Steve was _wearing_ them,” Sam sighed. “ _Anyway_ , getting back on topic. To delete the previous save data, you have to be on the title screen and hit ‘Up, B, Select’ all at the same time.”

“Thanks, Sam,” Bucky said around a bite of quiche. “These are pretty good, you want one? Steve, give the man a quiche.”

“Alright, sure, I’ll take a quiche,” Sam said, accepting a ham and Swiss.

“There we go,” Bucky said. “It’s starting.”

“What’s starting?” Natasha asked.

“Pokémon,” Bucky answered.

“Oh, which starter are you going to pick?” Natasha asked, propping her chin on her hands, elbows on the back of the couch.

“I didn’t know you played,” Steve said, surprised. “I thought you said video games weren’t your thing?”

“I don’t play,” Natasha said, “but I did watch the ‘Twitch Plays Pokémon’ stream and _maaayyy_ have been a little bit involved in the whole ‘Start9’ thing.” She extended one hand in a non-committal wobble.

Sam turned to Natasha and gave her an unreadable look. “That was _you_?” 

“Not _entirely_ me,” Natasha said, standing back up and crossing her arms, deflecting. 

Recognizing the tacit end of that topic, Sam just shook his head and turned back to Bucky. “So, who _have_ you decided on for your starter?”

“I dunno, I was hoping to get a look at them first,” Bucky said.

“Any chance I could convince you to pick the Fire type?” Natasha asked sweetly.

“Natasha, you don’t even play,” Sam interjected. “Come on man, go with Grass; you’ll find a _much_ better Fire type later in the game. Hold off and you won’t be disappointed.”

“Ok, Steve, what’s _your_ opinion?” Bucky asked, proceeding into the game, not looking up.

“Water type, clearly,” Steve said, trying but just failing to hide his laugh.

“Oh, I see how it is, mister troll,” Sam said, side-eyeing Steve. “He’s gotta go with Grass. If he picks Water, then he’ll have duplicate typing on his team when get gets Ducklett. The only acceptable duplicate typing is Flying-types. And Ducklett evolves into Swanna, which is a swan with Princess Leia buns; you can’t say no to that.”

“Look at the screen, he’s got his choices up now,” Natasha interrupted. “And I stand by my choice of Fire. I mean look, it’s a little piggy. You can call him ‘Bacon’.”

“What? No, you don’t name your Tepig ‘Bacon.’ That’s just rude,” Sam countered. “Pick Snivy and make the right choice.”

“Ok, but consider this,” Steve said. “The Water type is a little blue otter with a seashell on its belly. I think the choice is obvious.”

“I’ll flip a coin,” Bucky said.

“There’s three choices, you can’t use a coin,” Natasha argued. “Make it easy. Go with Bacon.”

“Fine then, I’ll close my eyes and poke the screen. Whoever I tap, I’m picking, ok?” Bucky asked, sitting up and twisting around so he could look over his shoulders at his friends.

“I mean, if you really want to make a random pick, why not just agree with me?” Steve wheedled.

“Because that’s not random,” Sam argued. 

“I’m doing it!” Bucky announced. He closed his eyes, wiggled his left index finger, and brought it gently down in the vicinity of his 3DS.

“So, you’d like the Water Pokémon Oshawott?” the game asked.

“I got the otter,” Bucky said. 

“Your loss,” Natasha shrugged and turned to leave. “I’m going back to see if I can steal some of those bacon wrapped scallops now that I’ve got bacon and Steve’s petty thievery on my mind.”

“Well, I know I argued for Snivy, but I hope you have fun with Oshawott. There really aren’t any bad choices; they just mean you have to make different choices later on for the rest of your team,” Sam explained.

“I don’t know anything about this game’s Pokémon, I just wanted to argue the third choice. And I _do_ think the otter’s pretty cute,” Steve said. “So, do you mind if I rejoin the party? I don’t want Tony to come looking for all of us. If you’re the only one missing, he’s less likely to set up a search party.”

“Yeah, that’s a good point,” Sam agreed. “If you have any questions, text me and I’ll do my best to answer you.” 

“Sure thing,” Bucky said, turning back to his game. “Go have fun. And Steve? I hope you don’t let anyone else eat those quiches once you get them back to your place. Your jacket’s not refrigerated and not everyone has your iron stomach.”

“I promise,” Steve said, holding up his hands.


	3. Chapter 3

“Are you really trying to run and play your game at the same time? How long have you had that out? Where did you even have it hidden away? I could swear you didn’t have it when we started running,” Steve said, pulling even with Bucky on the indoor running track.

“I’ve got one of those hideaway money bands for travelers, it holds my 3DS pretty well. Also, I memorized the track layout the first week here, so I don’t have to pay that much attention to it,” Bucky answered, not looking up from his 3DS. “Running on a track is boring; this gives my mind something to do rather than just space out.”

“Yeah, but you’re muttering. When you start talking to yourself, things generally don’t end well from what I’ve observed. Are you sure you’re not getting too focused on the game?” Steve asked, trying to lean in to see the screens.

“You’re crowding me, can you back off a bit?” Bucky said, sidestepping away from Steve so their feet wouldn’t get tangled. Just because he knew the track by heart didn’t make it any easier to run that close to someone, and he really didn’t want to trip and smash his 3DS.

“Sorry,” Steve said, speeding up just enough that he was in Bucky’s field of vision, but not quite in chatting range.

Bucky gave Steve a couple minutes before saving his game and pulling back up next to him, flipping his 3DS closed. “Nah, you’re ok, sorry for snapping. It’s just my game. It’s kind of frustrating me right now, but at the same time, I’m hooked. I should have listened to you when you kept bugging me to pick up Blue so you’d have someone to compare versions with.”

“I gotcha,” Steve said. “What’s making you frustrated? I don’t know a whole lot about the Pokémon in White, but if it’s basic game mechanics, I might be able to help.”

“When we’re done with this run, do you wanna look at my team? I just got my first gym badge last night, but I’m not super happy with everyone right now and I’m trying to decide who I’m going to keep training.”

“Yeah, sure, I’d love to see them and help you decide who to train. And congrats on the first gym badge, it feels good, doesn’t it?” Steve grinned. “What type was the first gym leader? I remember in Red, I chose Charmander because it was the version mascot—well, it evolves into the version mascot—and had a really bad time against Brock because Fire is weak against Rock types.”

“So, what were the other options for your first gym battle? Like, if you’d picked Water, what would you have gotten instead of Rock?” Bucky asked.

“What do you mean? There was only Brock. Or do you mean the second gym leader?”

“No, like, I started with Oshawott, Water, so my first gym leader battle was against Grass type instead of Fire or Water. There were three leaders and the game would pick whichever one was strong against your starter.”

“Really? Now that’s interesting,” Steve said, curiosity coloring his voice. “Did they tell you ahead of time? To get you to train the rest of your team too and not just your starter? Or is it more of a surprise?”

“They warned me, and the game gave me a Fire type to help out, but I’m not sure I really like him. That’s my problem. He’s a cute little monkey, but he needs so much experience to level up compared to the rest of my team, his only Fire attack is pretty weak _and_ only has 15 pp so I can’t use it that much, and he’s fainted three times already, compared with zero for the entire rest of my team. I’m on the fence about keeping training him. Plus, Sam said if I wait, I’ll find a much better Fire type later.”

“Teams change, it’s ok. I didn’t keep most of my first gym battle team with me all the way to the end in Red.”

“Yeah, but it feels kind of rude. Like, here’s a gift! We hope you’ll give this little monkey a nickname and love and care for him! And I’m sitting here like, eh, well, he’s _ok_ … like I’m letting everyone down.”

Steve put his hand lightly on Bucky’s elbow to make sure he had his attention and help ground him a little. “How about we call this run done a little early and we can talk about your team? And seriously, don’t stress over training a Pokémon for a while and then swapping them out for someone else. I know they feel a little like pets, but they’re just pixels and code and you’re not hurting anyone’s feelings. I promise.”

“I know, but…” Bucky said, slowing to a jog and veering over towards the bench where he and Steve had left their water bottles. He sat down and took a long drink before flipping his 3DS open and waking the game up again. Steve loped over and sat down next to him, sipping his water more slowly.

“Ok, so, this is who I’ve got right now,” Bucky said, pulling up the proper game menu. “You’ve met Oshawott already, but the game let me give him a nickname after you went back to the party, so I called him Otto. I’ve got two Normal types, Pat the Patrat—she’s kind of a chipmunk I guess?—and Rover the Lilipup. He’s more obviously based off a dog. I know with what Sam said about not wanting duplicate typing, I’ll have to switch out one or both of them later, but they weren’t gifts, so I guess I don’t feel as bad about that?”

“Yeah, ok, I feel that,” Steve said, watching as Bucky scrolled down through his team.

“This is Tom, he’s a Purrloin and a Dark type.”

“Wow, _really_ creative names. Rover the dog and Tom the cat,” Steve teased.

“Oh hush, I’ve got a math brain, you know that. I had you for the artsy-fartsy stuff. Let me give them dumb nicknames,” Bucky teased back. “I called the monkey Red because he’s a Fire type and his actual name ‘Pansear’ just sounded too silly to not nickname. Makes it sound like he’s a scallop. And my last Pokémon is Flora the Munna. I just caught her during the run, and she kind of looks like a hovering floral throw-pillow come to life. I have no idea what animal she’s supposed to be based off of.”

Steve held up his hand to muffle a laugh.

“What’s so funny? My dumb nicknames? What did you call _your_ Pokémon, then?” Bucky pouted.

“No, it’s not that, sorry,” Steve said, pressing his hand to his chest, almost giggling. “It’s just, Munna’s pink and flowery. And in Red, there was a trainer outside of Rock Tunnel who complained about the Pokémon in that route being too chunky, and that she’d like one that was pink and floral print. And they really actually made one like that! Oh, that’s rich.”

“Ok, so other than not liking my nicknames and the laugh about the inside joke throw pillow Pokémon, what do you think of my team?” Bucky asked after waiting for Steve to finish his giggle-fit.

“I think you’ve only just gotten your first badge and you’ve got a long way to go. Red and Blue had 150 Pokémon between them, including evolutions, so there were a lot of choices. I’m assuming White has about as many species, so if you don’t want to train one, there will be plenty of others available. I mean, some types will be rarer, like Dragon and Ice, but I wouldn’t worry about keeping someone on you aren’t feeling, even if they were a gift Pokémon. And if Sam said there’s a better Fire type later, I’d trust him. Good things come to those who wait, right?”

“Yeah, I suppose you’re right,” Bucky said, saving his game even though he hadn’t actually done anything story-wise, and flipping the 3DS shut again.

“Hey, what are friends for if not to dole out advice and rag you on your not very creative Pokémon nicknames?” Steve said. He finished his water bottle and stood up. “I think I’ve got a second wind in me, wanna go race another couple laps?”

“Sure, but loser has to bite the bullet and volunteer for Tony’s ‘celebrity bartender’ thing he promised the Avengers would do,” Bucky wagered.

“Oh, you’re _on_.”


	4. Chapter 4

“So, did you choose to be here or did you lose a bet with Sam or Steve?” Natasha asked as Bucky slipped behind the bar to take his place as an Avengers Celebrity Bartender for Tony’s latest gala. She scanned the collection of liquors and selected one, pouring a shot that Bucky tossed back with a grunt of thanks.

“Both of them, actually,” Bucky admitted, tucking the shot glass under the bar for later use. “How’d _you_ end up pulling bar duty?”

“Oh, I volunteered,” Natasha said with a little smirk. “People tend to let their guard down around the bartender, and it can be very entertaining. It’s why I keep coming back. Besides, you ever see Clint when he starts to get tipsy? Can’t find his feet to save his life, but he can still hit the bullseye on the dartboard from across the room.”

“We have a dartboard in here? I didn’t think that counted as classy in Tony’s world,” Bucky said, looking around to see if he could see it.

“It doesn’t, but every time Tony’d take it down, Clint would put it back up, and eventually it got popular enough with the gala guests that he let it stay up,” Natasha explained. “I think some people come just to see Clint get wasted and play darts. Clint keeps coming because free alcohol.”

“That’s fair. So you’ve been doing this for a while, then? How busy does one of these things generally get? How much downtime should I expect? I brought my game just in case there’s enough of a lull to get some game-time in. I wouldn’t say I’m _addicted_ , exactly, but I do want to keep playing,” Bucky said, pulling his 3DS out of his pocket and placing it under the bar next to his shot glass.

“You brought your Pokémon with you?”

“Yeah, why wouldn’t I?”

“Because it’s a Tony Stark gala and it’s much more fun to people-watch?”

“I’d rather keep playing, honestly. I’m actually in the gym for my third badge and I’m ready to do this.”

Natasha sighed. “I get it, it’s fun, but didn’t you say that you felt like you needed to try to start socializing again? This is a good opportunity and it’s kind of hard to do that with your nose stuck in your GameBoy.”

“It’s a 3DS, not a GameBoy,” Bucky said automatically. “And I meant start socializing again in small doses, not bartend for a couple hundred strangers.”

“Meh,” Natasha said, giving him a joking wave-off. “It’s Nintendo, it’s handheld, it’s a GameBoy. Besides, your game will still be here after this is all over. You can play it any time, and this only happens once a year. And really, the couple hundred strangers aren’t bad. You probably won’t see any of them ever again, so you can practice your small-talk without the fear that you’ll say something awkward and have to see them around the compound. Or you can have deep conversations if anyone feels so inclined. It’s a mixed crowd and like I said, the people-watching can be really fun.”

Bucky gave her a skeptical look.

“But if you _really_ need a little time to go play and get a breather from the people at some point, I can point you towards a surprisingly nice supply closet.”

“You’d do that? I thought you just said you didn’t want me playing during the gala,” Bucky said, frowning a little.

“Hey,” Natasha said, putting her hand on his shoulder, “if you’re genuinely uncomfortable, I won’t force you to tough it out. We’re allowed to have feelings now. I still stand by my proposal, though. Socialize for the evening, then maybe go back and cap off your night with a gym badge. If you get it done right before you go to bed, you’ll feel better about the whole day. Probably.”

“Thanks,” Bucky smiled.

“So, quick question before the people start filtering in,” Natasha said. “What types are your two badges and what type is this gym leader?”

“First badge had three options and the game chose the type strong against my starter. That’s how it’s set up to do. Second badge was Normal type. Third badge is Bug.”

“See? I was right. You should have started with the fire-pig like I told you to,” Natasha teased.

“Eh, I’ll be fine,” Bucky said. “I’ve got a pigeon Pokémon. I named him Sam.”

“Oh, he’ll love that. Have you told him yet?” Natasha laughed.

“Haven’t had the chance,” Bucky admitted.

“Well, let me know when you do plan on telling him so I can be somewhere nearby so I can see his reaction.”

“I’ll try to remember to do that.”


	5. Chapter 5

What Clint didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him, Bucky thought as he settled into a very nice hammock he had found strung up in one of the larger ceiling ducts. After nearly three straight weeks of action and no time to play video games, Bucky thought he more than deserved a little time alone with his Pokémon. Now, where had he left off? He pressed the button to turn on his 3DS and tapped the icon for Pokémon White.

Right. Crossing the Driftveil Drawbridge. Ready to get over to a new city and prepare for his fifth gym badge. With a name like ‘Clay,’ he might use either Ground or Rock types. Bucky _had_ considered actually looking up what types to expect in the gyms beforehand, but then, the game had outright told him to go against Electric types like the ones Elesa would use in the fourth gym with Ground moves, but then she came out with two Electric- _Flying_ types, nullifying whatever advantage his little Sandile might have had. Ah, well. Such is life. Bucky equipped the bicycle and pedaled his little dude across the bridge and into Driftveil City.

Maybe he shouldn’t be so quick to judge, but Bucky took an immediate dislike to Driftveil’s gym leader. Elesa asked you to let the bridge down so we could cross and challenge your gym, so it’s suddenly our fault you let a bunch of Team Plasma grunts escape? Dude. Buddy. Friendo. That’s not how it works. Not our fault you can’t multitask. And telling us that unless we find the missing Ren Faire PETA guys, then we can’t challenge your gym? Poor sportsmanship. That is literally your job. Ok, so fighting the Plasma grunts would be good experience, but it still cheesed him off a little. Bucky sighed, found the Pokécenter, and settled in to investigate the city to see where Team Plasma might be hiding. At least the city had pretty nice music; it kind of reminded him of Bon Jovi.

After an unusual battle with an unusual trainer (dramatic sigh, glance up over shoulder, hand to forehead. _Charles_ ), Bucky made his way south into the Cold Storage area of Driftveil. He fought a few more trainers, and decided see what kind of wild Pokémon this area had to offer. And promptly snort-laughed, nearly rolling out of the hammock when he stepped into the grass and flushed out a soft-serve ice cream cone. Really? Ice cream? Ok, well, it’s probably an Ice type, and he hadn’t seen one of those yet. Steve had mentioned them being nice to have around, so he supposed he could get over the extraordinarily silly design if it turned out to be a good Pokémon. He named the little guy ‘Gelato’ and giggled all the way to the Pokécenter to do some swap-outs on his team.

\-----------------

Yeah, Bucky was still not a huge fan of Clay after that gym battle. Why do you have to make everything difficult, _Clay_? Couldn’t you just hand over the post-battle TM like all the previous gym leaders had done? How hard was it to go ‘oh, congrats, here’s a little disk to teach your Pokémon a cool move’? Bam and done. But no. Clay was all, ‘go trek down Route 6 and meet me at this cave and _then_ I’ll give you the TM you just earned.’ Dude, _chill_. At least Bucky was making pretty good progress out of spite against Clay. Like, there was no way he was gonna save and quit before he had gotten everything dude had promised him. He popped the cap off of one of the Guinnesses he had brought up with him (his battery was fully charged and he was settling in for a nice, long play session), took a long sip, and got to work battling his way down Route 6.

Maybe a little tedious with the number of Karrablasts popping out of the grass to try and fight him (XP was XP, true, but they sure were stingy with it, so he usually ended up running rather than wasting moves on them), but it was quite doable. He made it to Chargestone Cave before he had even gotten halfway done with his beer. This should be easy enough; a nice, relaxing afternoon up in the ceiling ducts, a few beers, and his game. Bucky actually smiled to himself as he finally managed to get TM78 (Bulldoze) from Clay and teach it to his now-Krokorok.

\------

Karma was real and Bucky was apologizing to the universe in general for every bad thing he had ever done, willingly or not. Chargestone Cave was _not_ a relaxing afternoon hike. The Pokémon density was even higher than Route 6, and with the prevalence of Steel types, he was kind of regretting swapping out his Zebstrika for a newly-caught Joltik, even if she was an electric spider and therefore nicknamed ‘Natasha.’ Now he had zero Fire moves and was filled with mild regret. Not enough regret to box Natasha, but enough to make him grumpy. 

At least Bucky had gotten a good laugh when Sam leveled up enough to evolve. What had once been an adorable, tiny pigeon was now some kind of fabulous terror-pheasant with pink face-tentacles and green pantaloons. He loved it and couldn’t wait to show Sam-the-Unfezant to his namesake Sam-the-human. However, he was still stuck underground in a cave full of angry metal cockleburs, gears with faces, and electric spiders. He really wished he had bought more repels. Granted, he _could_ use Dig, go back to the cave entrance, and then fly back to Driftveil, but that would mean undoing all the progress he had made in getting through this stupid cave. He was nothing if not stubborn. He soldiered on.

And promptly flipped his 3DS closed in frustration as he finally stepped out of the cave and, after two beers and a boss-fight against N, the next town was gray and rainy. He sulked briefly, then reopened the 3DS, saved his game, and then closed it again. He was going to step away for a bit, take a nice nap, and then get back into things when he was less peeved.


	6. Chapter 6

No one was quite sure who had decided that Steve’s 100th’s birthday party was going to be a masquerade, but Bucky wasn’t going to let that or a lack of artistic skills stop him from making masks for everyone. Paper plate masks never went out of style, and it was easy enough to color on them in just about any medium. Bucky chose crayons, just to be silly.

Everyone got their own personalized mask, too. Bucky chose a classic black domino mask, unadorned, for himself. For everyone else, some people’s were pretty obvious—Tony and Rhodey got paper versions of their suits’ masks, Steve got his helmet but with little wings popping off the sides (because it looked silly and because Bucky _could_ ), and Natasha got a spider with ribbon legs. Clint’s mask was little more off-beat, mostly because Bucky couldn’t manage to draw a hawk face-on on his plate; he ended up with a purple domino mask with a big ‘H’ over his forehead. Bucky laughed quietly to himself the whole time he was making Sam’s mask, modeled off of Sam-the-Unfezant’s mask. He colored the whole thing bright pink, stapled on a pair of three-foot-long ribbons, and called it a day.

\--------------------------

Sam accepted his mask with a sigh that threatened to turn into a laugh. He pulled the elastic back and slipped the mask on. “I take it your Tranquill evolved since we last talked about your game?”

“Yep,” Bucky replied, grinning. He gave Steve a wave when he did a double-take upon seeing Sam’s mask. “Best choice of bird. Clearly. You’re making Sam Junior proud of you, wearing that.”

“There are stronger Flying-types than Unfezant, but I won’t try to argue if you really want to keep him on your team,” Sam said, tucking a ribbon behind his ear.

“Oh, you’d better believe I’m keeping him. And if I can find bright green pants, I’ll be buying you a pair so you two can really match.”

“Remind me to never let you anywhere near my closet.”

Bucky pouted briefly. “I’ll let you go mingle now, but when you get time later, do you think we could talk game again? I’ve got some stuff I want to ask you and/or bounce back and forth between us.”

“Yeah, sure, no problem,” Sam agreed. “Meet back here after cake and ice cream?”

“Sounds good.”

\-------------------------

“So what’s up?” Sam said, handing Bucky a third slice of cake and sitting down across from him at one of the tables. Most of the party had begun to clear up, teasing Steve about being an old man and it being naptime already (with Steve playing along, of course, telling them that if it _was_ naptime, then they’d better hurry up and get off his lawn), so it was as good a time as any to sit and chat.

“Pokémon is a kids’ game, right?” Bucky asked, cutting into his piece of cake. “Am I just reading too deep into it?”

“Team Plasma?” Sam asked.

“Yes, like, what _is_ their deal?” Bucky said, gesturing with his fork for emphasis. “On one hand, they’re all dressed up like Ren Faire PETA and acting like hypocritical comic villains. But on the other hand, they do kind of have a point. Maybe. Is the game trying to be all meta about ‘oh, you’re collecting all these Pokémon and not thinking about how you might be hurting them’? It flat-out tells you to try to complete the Pokédex, but then it also asks you if you think Pokémon really enjoy that kind of existence. Am I overthinking this whole thing?”

Sam inhaled, paused, and exhaled, deciding how to answer this. “First, yes, it is a kids’ game, but it’s not aimed solely at kids. I think the Team Plasma storyline might have been developed in response to comments about the previous games like ‘virtual dog fighting for kids.’ Which, ok, yes. It could be seen like that. It’s a video game where instead of fighting yourself, you have your pets fight for you. But, they don’t die, they just faint. And I’m sure you’ve already figured out that people can get pretty attached to these little pixel monsters. There’s even an unofficial variant of gameplay called a Nuzlocke where if your Pokémon faints, you have to treat it like a ‘death’ and you can’t use that Pokémon anymore, so people playing that variant get even more attached to their Pokémon and do whatever they can within their power to keep them from ever fainting. You treat your team properly, right? Go to the Pokécenters frequently, use items on them? Teach them good moves? Keep them as healthy as possible? Don’t make them fight through poison or a burn unless you absolutely have to?”

Bucky ate his cake and nodded along as Sam spoke.

“Yeah, then I think you’re good,” Sam continued. “It’s a turn-based-combat video game, so you _will_ be fighting. But I know the game makes sure to tell you about all the other ways people and Pokémon interact, like the Pokémon musical, Pokémon sports, or just pampered house pets. And if you’re concerned about the Pokémon you’ve caught but aren’t training being stuck in a PC box being bored, I imagine the PC boxes being kind of like Unimatrix Zero from Star Trek Voyager. Did you and Steve make it up to Voyager yet in your Star Trek viewing sessions?”

“We did,” Bucky replied. “And yeah, I like that idea. If you have to catch them but not raise them, then at least give them a nice virtual world to live in. And on the subject of Team Plasma and catching Pokémon, what’s up with N? Does he do a sort of catch-and-release program? Every time I’ve battled him, he’s had a different team and they’re all local species. If so, and with everything he’s said so far in the game, it kinda seems like he’s the only one in Team Plasma who actually _believes_ in the Pokémon welfare they preach about. He’s said that he appreciates good trainers, and thinks that some people and Pokémon have the potential to work well together, but that there are enough bad trainers out there that Team Plasma has to work to separate all people and Pokémon so that the Pokémon won’t be hurt anymore.”

“Oh boy. N,” Sam said, leaning back in his chair. “I don’t want to spoil anything for you; he’s an interesting character. Be ready for him, it’s gonna be something.”

“When you say ‘no spoilers,’ do you mean there’s a twist ending or something? What kind of ‘something’ are you talking about? Is he secretly the Hero of Unova reincarnated or something? He was able to recruit Reshiram to his side,” Bucky asked, finishing his slice of cake.

“When I say no spoilers, I mean no spoilers,” Sam said firmly. “I think you should just play on and find out for yourself. I really do think it’ll be better if you do this for yourself, let the game proceed on its own without me telling you. Pick a nice, quiet weekend where you can hole up in your room and play for hours, if need be. Then, after the first ending credits, come back and we can talk about it again.”

“No hints?” Bucky said, frowning comically.

“Nope. You gotta do this on your own,” Sam said, shaking his head and dislodging his mask’s ribbons from behind his ears.

“Not even to tell me what level to get my team to when I have to fight him?” Bucky wheedled.

“Mid-50s should be good to get you through the Elite Four and everything that comes after them. Bring lots of items, lots of Ultra Balls. Be prepared for a long play session. Make sure your battery is charged beforehand,” Sam relented. 

“See? I knew you had it in you,” Bucky said, grinning broadly.

“That’s all I’m giving you,” Sam said, standing up and pushing his chair in. He tucked the ribbons back behind his ears and walked off to find Steve again.

Bucky pulled his 3DS out of his pocket and clicked it on to start playing again.


	7. Chapter 7

Bucky settled further down into his oversized beanbag chair. Thankfully, the common room was usually pretty deserted at three in the morning so he could indulge in a little Pokémon in privacy along with his intermittent insomnia. Grinding: completed. Items: bought. Elite Four: defeated without too much difficulty. Bucky was maybe slightly suspicious about how easy they had been, but then again, their Pokémon were only levels 48-50, and his were all level 54. But, if Sam said mid-50s, then he probably had a good reason to say that. Just the Champion and N to battle, now. He saved his game and walked up to the now-glowing statue in the middle of the Pokémon League. He clicked on it and let it take him down… to the giant set of steps that took him right back up again to a Greek-temple-looking building. At least this game didn’t have any kind of stamina bar for the trainer, because that’s a lot of steps. Here goes, he thought, walking into the temple.

Alder and N, face to face, and N had defeated the League Champion. Was he truly the stronger trainer? Were his goals really the truth of the matter? Bucky shook his head. Of course not. The game was simply setting up a boss-battle for him. He moved forward. N noticed Bucky’s trainer and spoke to him, declaring the Pokémon League not to be a fitting stage for the legendary dragons. The ground rumbled and a massive castle sprung from the earth, fully formed. (Pretty impressive graphics for an older game, Bucky thought with a nod to himself.) N made another little speech, and disappeared into his castle. Bucky followed, determined.

Up the stairs, through the hole in the Pokémon League wall, and up into N’s castle. Past the Seven Sages and the Unova gym leaders (at least he didn’t have to fight _six more_ bosses before N). Plenty to explore, he continued forward. Halls and rooms. A place to heal his Pokémon, people to speak to. People who had known N since his childhood. The game was finally beginning to reveal some things about N, such as where his motivation came from. He had been raised with Pokémon who had been mistreated, who had good reason to mistrust people. N was given only this perspective to learn, never being allowed to meet happy Pokémon and kind trainers, so needless to say, he began to believe that people were no good for Pokémon. 

Bucky gave a preoccupied frown and continued forward. He had known for a while N didn’t feel quite like the rest of Team Plasma, but he was getting a better idea of it now. N had been carefully shaped, molded into the perfect leader for Team Plasma. He was empathetic, he could understand the language of Pokémon and their feelings. With that degree of empathy with Pokémon, he could find and befriend Reshiram. He could become the Hero of Unova, and with that position, he could convince the people that his cause was right and true. If all he knew was the pain and suffering that Pokémon could face at the hands of people, then he would have every reason to throw himself whole-heartedly into the cause of separating Pokémon from the humans that hurt them.

Up and up again Bucky went. He was shown to the very room where N had been raised, shut away from the world in this massive castle, his gilded cage. All he had ever known were his Team Plasma surrogate parents and some hurt, scared Pokémon whom he, a _child_ , had to work to win their trust in order for him to have any friends at all. Bucky was starting to feel a little uneasy. This was almost certainly why Sam had refused to share any spoilers with him. An antagonist who had been manipulated into believing he was doing what was right? He was pretty sure Sam hadn’t meant to spring this similarity on him unwarned. He was pretty good about avoiding unpleasant surprises; when he had said to “be ready,” this must have been what he was alluding to. And ok, yeah, Bucky didn’t really see how Sam could have properly warned him about “hey, this guy kind of reminds me of you when you were the Winter Soldier a bit,” without spoiling what Bucky believed to be the game’s big plot twist barreling down on him. He continued forward and up in the castle, coming nearer and nearer to N with each step. How would he face this battle knowing that N, while doing things in the wrong way, wasn’t truly his enemy?

Bucky moved forward into the final chamber. N rose from his throne and walked to meet him. He watched Reshiram arrive, bursting into the room in its fiery glory. The Dark Stone began to respond, rising from his trainer’s backpack into the air. It began to spin, giving off a purple glow and an electric crackle, erupting into life as Zekrom, the black dragon. Zekrom, who he would have to battle and capture before his climactic battle with N. He saved the game again.

A surprisingly short battle and three Ultra Balls later, Zekrom was on his team, replacing Gelato (the novelty of the ice cream had worn off a bit, so this was as good a reason as any), and the real battle began. N sent out Reshiram, he sent out Zekrom. Go time. Reshiram vs Zekrom. Vanilluxe vs Chandelure. Carracosta vs Galvantula and Samurott (Bucky had to admit, he forgot for a moment that the fossil Pokémon were _also_ Rock types, losing Natasha to a Stone Edge). Klinklang vs Chandelure. Archeops vs Zekrom. Zoroark vs Krookodile. While he certainly didn’t escape unscathed, he defeated N fairly handily. All he needed was proper planning and type-advantages. Had Sam asked him to over-level just in case? That would be just like him, making sure he was well prepared and wouldn’t lose and have to go through all that all over again, especially since he didn’t get to save right after catching Zekrom. Bucky smiled. He had done it. He had defeated N and N had agreed that they might both have good ideas. Roll credits.


	8. Chapter 8

Hah, not so fast, Bucky boy. No, N was _not_ the final boss of the game. In strode Ghetsis, berating N for losing, and revealing to N, Bucky’s trainer, Cheren, and Alder that, ok, yeah, he had been using Team Plasma for his own selfish ends this whole time. He wanted the world, and what better way to get it than to manipulate people into clearing a path for him to do it? Create a hero-figure puppet king in N to convince the people to release their Pokémon; then, if no one had Pokémon but him, then no one would be able to stand in his way. N called out to Bucky’s trainer and healed his Pokémon. A small act of rebellion for sure, but one that began to separate him from Team Plasma. His tiny, pixel face couldn’t properly show his expression, but Bucky had a pretty good idea what he would look like, what emotions would be passing across his face. Ignorance may not be bliss, but it was certainly easier and less painful than having the truth suddenly thrust upon you, struggling to comprehend that your life had been nothing more than a sequence of lies, designed to serve others.

No time to sit and ponder life, however—here was the real, actual, true, _please_ let this be the final boss battle—as the battle music commenced and Ghetsis sent out his first Pokémon. Bucky knew his team was strong, he knew he still had plenty of healing items, but he was getting a little antsy, maybe a little tired. This was a long end-game. He buckled down, paid attention to the type-matchups, cursed the existence of the move Toxic, and forged on.

Then, finally, it was over. Ghetsis’s Eelektross succumbed to a Dragonbreath from Zekrom. Bucky thought it rather fitting that it would be the second legendary dragon who squashed Ghetsis’s dreams of world domination. 

“What?! I created Team Plasma with my own hands. I'm absolutely perfect! I AM PERFECTION! I am the perfect ruler of a perfect new world!” Ghetsis cried out, his words rolling onto the screen, his speech bubble jagged with emotion.

As Ghetsis seethed, Alder stepped forward to speak to N. “Do you still think that Pokémon and people should be separated?”

N turned aside, silent. Ghetsis continued his rant. Alder spoke again. “I know you were not pursuing the truth because of Ghetsis's manipulation, but because your heart was truly inspired. That is why you were able to meet the legendary Pokémon!”

N and Alder continued to speak as Bucky thumbed the A button. It wasn’t that he didn’t care about the dialog—he thought it was pretty good stuff for a game aimed at thirteen-year-olds, make ‘em think—but this had been kind of a tiring play-session, despite this night’s insomnia. Not only for the length of time he spent playing, but also for the feelings it had brought up in him. N’s words, “The Champion has forgiven me, and… What I should do now is something I'll have to decide for myself” really resonated with him. He and Sam would have to chat about that later, after he’d had time to rest a little. The sooner the credits wrapped up and he could save the game and turn it off, the better. He set the 3DS down on the floor, wiggled further back into his beanbag, and casually watched the credits scroll by. His eyelids drooped.

\------------

He woke with a start, surprised to find the sun up already. He might find it a little embarrassing later, but his first thought upon waking up was “My battery!” He glanced over to where he had set his 3DS and saw that it had been folded closed with a piece of paper tucked into it. He leaned over and scooped it up. The battery light was still blinking happily blue as the system slept. He pulled the paper out and read the note.

‘Found this open and looping the intro screen when I came down for my run. I put your 3DS into sleep mode to save battery, since I didn’t see your charger anywhere. I asked F.R.I.D.A.Y. to make sure no one would bother you, since I know you don’t always sleep so well. –Steve’

Well, that was a very Steve thing to do. Bucky smiled. He flipped his 3DS open, started his game back up, saved it (just in case), and turned the whole system off. He stood up, stretched, and returned to his actual bedroom to plug his charger back in so he could see what the post-credits part of the game would bring without having to worry about his battery life. Maybe in the meantime, he’d go find Sam and have that plot chat he’d promised.


	9. Chapter 9

Sam jumped a little when he closed the refrigerator door and suddenly Bucky was there.

“Hi,” Bucky said, ducking quickly to catch the strawberry jam jar before it hit the floor. He handed it back to Sam.

“A little warning, please. I know habits are hard to break, but seriously, you don’t need to do the assassin stealth-walk around us. It’s kind of freaky when you’re just suddenly _there_ when you weren’t two seconds before,” Sam said, accepting the jam and crossing back to the counter to finish making his sandwich. He opened the cabinet to put the peanut butter away and grab the barbecue chips.

“Peanut butter and jelly? Really?” Bucky said, changing the subject.

“You telling me you’ve never had a craving for a good old-fashioned PB&J?” Sam said, pausing.

“Do you know how much peanut butter and jelly Steve and I ate as kids?” Bucky asked rhetorically.

“Fair,” Sam said, closing his sandwich and leaving the knife on the edge of the sink in case he wanted to make another later. “I don’t think you came down here for the sole purpose of dissing my comfort food choices. What’s up?”

“Got time for that Pokémon chat you promised?” Bucky asked, stealing a chip from Sam’s plate.

Sam smacked Bucky’s hand away and took his plate to the table. Bucky followed him.

“Yeah, now’s as good a time as any,” Sam said. “How’d the big reveal go for you? Not too badly, I hope.”

“On one hand, yeah, good twist, and thank you for not spoiling it for me, but on the other hand, part of me was a little upset about not being entirely ready for N’s backstory. I’m ok; I’m not upset at you,” Bucky hurried to add, holding up a hand, “just at myself.”

“Oh good. But, I mean, don’t be mad at yourself if it made you uncomfortable,” Sam replied. “I didn’t think N would be so similar to you that the reveal would be traumatic or anything, but then after I said no spoilers, I started second guessing myself. It doesn’t have to be traumatic to be off-putting. What if finding out N’s backstory made you feel like I was setting you up? I mean, neither of us are entirely innocent in the ongoing prank-war—” 

“What are you talking about? I’m _very_ innocent?” Bucky interrupted, suddenly grinning.

Same gave a theatrical sigh and continued. “— _Any_ way. Neither of us are entirely innocent in the ongoing prank-war, _but_ I hoped you’d realize I’d never stoop to deliberately trying to set you off or anything.”

“Oh, I know,” Bucky nodded. “It was a little uncomfortable, but I did like the twist, really. And I’m looking forward to exploring the other half of the map that the game wouldn’t let me access earlier. I’m assuming that’s what I’m supposed to do next?”

“Yep, there’s new towns and new routes to explore to level up your Pokémon for your second visit to the Elite Four and your actual battle with the Champion. You’ll want to be up into the mid-70s level-wise for that,” Sam said.

“Will I meet N again? Or does that count as more spoilers?” Bucky asked.

“Nah, not a whole lot of spoilers in the post-game,” Sam replied. “And you won’t meet N again in this game, he’s off finding himself—another parallel to you, now that I think about it. He shows back up again in the sequels two years later.”

“There’s sequels?” Bucky said, perking up.

“Yep, the oh-so-creatively named Black 2 and White 2. You can probably find a used copy at GameStop or have F.R.I.D.A.Y. search one out for you, if you’re interested.”

“Lemme finish this game all the way to the real end and I’ll see if I still want to.”

“Good choice,” Sam said. “And I’m glad you weren’t too upset about finding out N’s story.”

“Yeah, no worries.”


	10. Chapter 10

Determined to finish the game so he could then seek out the sequel, Bucky returned to Clint’s ceiling duct hammock for some privacy. He had barely had a chance to get comfortable, 3DS still off, before Clint’s head and upper torso suddenly appeared in front of his face, descending from a hole in the top of the duct.

“‘ _Some_ body’s been sleeping in _my_ hammock,’ cried Baby Bear, ‘and he’s _still here_!’” Clint crowed gleefully.

Bucky screamed and fell out of the hammock. His 3DS skittered noisily away from him and hit the side of the duct with a heavy clunk that caused the game cartridge to eject and fall down a side-duct.

“Aww, Pokémon, no,” Clint said. “I think I might know where that one goes. If I manage to get your game back for you, will you promise to stay out of my hammock?”

“If I promise to stay out of your hammock, will you promise to never scare me like that again?” Bucky said, righting himself and collecting his 3DS.

“Yeah, sure,” Clint said, somehow managing to shrug while upside down.

“You’ve got a deal,” Bucky said.

“Deal,” Clint agreed. “Now, I’d shake on it, but I think I’m actually kind of stuck. Do you think you could push me back out again?”

“Well, I _guess_ I could,” Bucky joked and gave Clint a shove back out of the duct.

\---------------------

It wasn’t actually Clint who found Bucky’s game cartridge.

Later that afternoon Sam tracked down Bucky and handed him a dust bunny with something small and black inside it.

“This fell out of the air vent in my ceiling earlier today. I’m assuming it’s yours? I don’t know anyone else who plays Pokémon White in this building,” Sam said as Bucky accepted the cartridge.

“Hey, yeah, thanks,” Bucky said. “Clint spooked me earlier and I accidentally knocked it out of my 3DS and it went down a duct too small for either of us to fit down.”

“I’m not gonna ask,” Sam said, wiping his hands on his pants to get the residual dust off them. “But I am going to suggest that we get the entire duct system cleaned, if that dust bunny is what your game collected on its adventure through the vents.”

“I’ll tell Clint you found my game, warn him to get his stuff out of the ducts, and then go threaten Tony until he sets up a cleaning appointment,” Bucky laughed.

“Sounds like a plan,” Sam agreed.


End file.
